The Father in the Search
by savannaaaxo
Summary: Fourteen year old Christine lives in Pittsburgh with her mom and has everything she's ever wanted: except her father. But, she's determined to fix that once and for all...
1. Prologue

**Hello guys! This is my first fanfic back on the site, and I thought I'd start with a story that I wrote when I was fourteen! Now, I'm 17, I have more writing experience and I've upped my game a little bit, so I'm excited to share this updated and rewritten story for you all.**

**This has a lot of angst at the beginning and some toward the end, but there will be fluff! You've just got to hang in there with me!**

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**Prologue**

_**12 Years Ago**_

Temperance Brennan wiped the drops away from her tear-stained face as she angrily wrote the letter that would arguably change her life forever.

_To the man I thought I knew:_

_While normally I wouldn't do this to someone I trusted (or thought I trusted) I thought that the best way to get closure would be through a letter. Because if I talked to you face to face, then I might do something that both of us would regret._

_I loved you. I loved you like I never thought I could love someone before. Until Christine came along. But you obviously didn't feel the same. You may love Christine now, but by the time this proceeding ends, she'll probably despise you even more than I do._

_I hope you and Hannah are very happy together. Don't try to contact us. My phone's been disconnected, and Christine will have no memory of who her father was._

_Brennan_

The last tear fell from her eyes onto the letter as she sealed it and wrote his name on the envelope. She took one glance at the sleeping figure on the couch, where he had wisely decided to spend his night, then at the bags packed by the door.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the last room on the left at the end of the hall. A small snore with a little whistle to it greeted her as she tiptoed in quietly. Brennan watched the young auburn haired child, wearing her nightgown and socks, in her crib, sleeping, beginning to wonder if she was doing the right thing, in taking their daughter with her. Then she remembered how she felt when she saw her parents drive away for the last time, and couldn't even fathom doing that to her own daughter. She took ten different outfits and three nightgowns and threw them in a small duffel bag on the floor. When Brennan had all of her daughter's belongings that she knew she couldn't live without, like her stuffed dolphin that reminded her of her late grandmother, she took the bag on one shoulder and carefully picked up young Christine.

Christine stirred quietly as Brennan took a final glance at the bedroom and shut the door. Christine began to mutter in her sleep as her eyes fluttered open.

"Mommy?" Christine whispered.

"It's okay, baby. Just go back to sleep," Brennan muttered quietly as she placed the child in her car seat. She returned to the bedroom for one last walkthrough and found the box that she had been hunting for. Every moment from their relationship that mattered to her was in that box. Some of it was actual mementos, like their wedding announcement, and some of it was silly stuff, like a coffee cup from the stand they had met at when they returned from their trips over four years ago. Brennan tried not to recall that particular memory, because it reminded her of a certain blonde tramp that had ruined her life.

She took the box outside with the rest of her belongings out to her car. When she had everything else in the car, she took Christine, who had fallen back asleep in her carseat, and buckled her in quietly. Finally, she walked over to the sleeping figure on the couch and knelt down.

His face, though sleeping, seemed to tell her not to do it. She couldn't help but remember everything about them, about what they were.

The way his hand fit perfectly in hers the day they left for Afghanistan and Maluku.

The night when he finally confessed his feelings for her, and she the same about eight months later.

The night all the walls came crashing down and they gave in to each other.

The night she changed his life forever by telling him she was pregnant.

The night he proposed and the night they said 'I Do' in front of 200 people.

The night Christine was born.

Brennan couldn't help but remember their wedding, and his vows, which he had written himself, and her favorite line. "I will be there for you, just like I was when we were partners, but this time, it means more knowing that you'll be there waiting for me when I've had a long day just to tell me you love me. I will love you and our daughter more than anyone you could possibly imagine." And Brennan was foolish enough to believe him.

She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the forehead and reached in for one more tender kiss on his softly chapped lips. She began to cry harder as she let go and realized that it was time for her to stand on her own.

She slipped off the ring, a 14 K gold sparkler that looked similar to her mom's wedding ring. She moved her fingers around, getting used to the feeling without it on. She put it on top of the envelope, looked at the house, full of their memories, and shut the door behind her.

She slipped into the car, and as she turned it on, Christine awoke once more.

"Mommy, where goin?" Christine asked in her small voice.

"We're going on a trip, Christine," Brennan answered, not completely sure how to explain what was happening to her three-year-old.

"Where's dada?" Christine replied.

Brennan bit her lip to keep herself from crying as she answered, "He's not coming with us, baby," as she pulled out of the driveway and left her life behind.

* * *

**I told you this was angsty, but it will get better!  
**

**Coming up next:**

_**Thirteen years later, we have a curious teenager who's anxious to know who her father is, and a simple vacation could change it...**_


	2. The Plan is Hatched

**Thank you guys for the great response thus far! Looking forward to seeing what you all think of these next few chapters! :)**

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**12 Years Later**

"Christine!" Bones called out, looking for her fourteen-year-old daughter, who inadvertently had managed to escape the kitchen without doing her chores, once again. Brennan and Christine had moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Brennan had taken a job at a museum reconstructing old skeletons from the 17th Century, what she had signed up to do at the Jeffersonian originally before she got involved in the whole crime-solving business.

Brennan hadn't told Christine about Booth. She didn't have the courage to. She knew Christine was old enough to handle the truth about her dad, but she felt better having Christine believe that she had a deadbeat for a dad, instead of a real man who had just made a mistake. She thought about him often after their split. She served him with divorce papers two months after she had left with Christine. They managed to settle over the phone, with Booth making no child support payments, under Brennan's insistence, with full custody going to Brennan. Thinking about it now, Brennan wasn't so sure it was the right thing to do, but she knew that if she allowed Booth back in, she wouldn't be able to resist him so strongly.

Christine sat in her purple walled, zebra themed bedroom, clicking through a website on her laptop and writing a note in her notebook. The auburn hair, blue eyed cutie had grown up into a brown haired teenager with a lot of spunk. Brennan had put her daughter in everything she could growing up, from ballet to softball to gymnastics to swimming. Christine had fallen in love with cheerleading at a young age, and spent the last five years cheering. She had just finished her eighth grade year at Warner County Middle School and was in line to be freshman cheer captain at H.W Austin High School in the fall.

As Christine finished her last set of notes for her summer assignment, she clicked on a separate document on her computer entitled DAD. She then began reading through the document that had a list of what she wanted in her ideal father. Since she never knew her dad, she had always imagined what she would want hers to look like.

_**Brown/Black hair. **__It wouldn't make sense if he was blonde, because then I wouldn't have my hair._

_**Tall! **__A Tall guy is exactly who my mom would have dated way back when._

_**Good at his job. **__Mom never would have dated a man who didn't have as good of a job as her._

_**Not Very Religious. **__That's sad, but since Mom has no true belief on a religion, then he wouldn't have either._

Christine climbed off of her bed and bent down beneath it to locate a box. When she finally found the one she wanted, she pulled it out. As soon as she pulled it out, she heard her mom's high heels clicking down the hallway. She gasped as she pushed the box back under her bed. The box, labeled SJB, had been hidden in the back of her mom's closet, meaning that she didn't want anyone to see it. Christine had gone in there one afternoon after school to borrow a dress for a banquet and had found it, meaning to go through it later. Every time she tried to, however, something or someone, namely her mother, would interrupt her. Now, she was finally going to get the chance to open it and settle the dispute on who the mysterious SJB was once and for all. As she pushed the box behind her, Brennan opened the door to her bedroom.

"I'm going to the office for a little while. Are you going to be okay by yourself?" she asked. Christine shook her head yes as Brennan blew her a kiss goodbye and closed the door. As Brennan walked out of the door, she ran into Christine's best friend, Micah Willis . She waved hello to Micah as she got into the car and drove off. Micah raced up the staircase, having received a text message from Christine not long before. She opened the door to her best friend's bedroom, eager to see what Christine had found.

"Did you open it?!" Micah exclaimed. Micah had been instrumental in Christine trying to discover who her dad was. They didn't know a whole lot, but now that was all fixing to change.

"I was just about to open it. I got impatient!" Christine said pointedly. Micah rolled her eyes as she put the box on the bed.

"Open it. Now," she ordered. Christine took a deep breath as she delicately slipped a finger through the middle of the box, as if the box would collapse if one wrong move was made. As soon as she lifted all four flaps, they began to examine the contents of the box.

The first thing they pulled out was a framed picture. Brennan was on the left, but on the right was a man with black hair and a suit. He had his arms around Brennan's bulging stomach in a wildflower meadow. On Brennan's finger was an engagement ring. Christine gasped as she stroked the glass of the picture. "This is him," she whispered.

"Christine, look at this!" Micah exclaimed as she held out a wedding invitation. "Mr. and Mrs. Max Brennan request the honor of your presence at the (long-awaited) marriage of their daughter, Dr. Temperance Brennan to Master Sgt. Seeley Joseph Booth," she read.

"Seeley?" Christine whispered as Micah continued to read.

"August 11th, 4:00 pm, National Mall Park, Washington DC," Micah finished.

"So, he lives in DC, of all places, and he's a solider. That's way better than anything I could have ever imagined! I just wish I could know more about him, " Christine said sadly as she put away the mementos and closed the box. Micah began to think and gasped as she came up with the perfect plan.

"Christine, I just had an incredible idea!" Micah yelled. "You remember my Aunt Hallie and Uncle Troy?" she asked.

"The uncle who went straight for your aunt?" Christine asked.

"Still not completely convinced he's not gay. Anyway, they live in DC and I always go at the beginning of June and stay with them until Fourth of July, remember?" Micah continued.

"Vaguely, but go on," Christine answered.

"How about you come with me?" Micah asked. Christine stopped and looked at her best friend like she was insane.

"Are you serious? Micah, your family is crazy rich. There's no way I'm going to intrude on your aunt and uncle's home for a month!" Christine exclaimed.

"Don't you see, Chris? This is perfect! We'll go down to DC for the month, and we can spend the time locating your dad! That way, you'll at least know who he is and you can finally put a name to the face!" Micah pleaded.

Christine began to think. Her best friend had a point. All this time, she wondered why she never saw or heard from her father. All the father's days that she spent not making cards for her dad, but for her grandfather instead. All the times in school growing up where the teachers asked what their fathers did for a living, and Christine was never able to give an answer. Not one letter, not one phone call. A simple month-long vacation to DC could change that forever.

"I don't know, Micah. Mom might not let me go, especially if I tell her that I'm going to find my father," Christine answered.

"Don't tell her that much! Just tell her that you want to spend some time with your best friend before we enter the scary realm that is high school," Micah replied. Christine sighed as she shook her head in agreement. "Yay!" Micah yelled as she hugged Christine. Right as she let go, Christine heard her mother walk in the door.

"Let's ask her now! We have to order the train tickets soon!" Micah said as Christine led her down the stairs. Christine's stomach suddenly began to turn into knots as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey girls! Micah, are you staying for dinner tonight?" Brennan asked as she began to put away the few little groceries she had bought while she was out.

"Not tonight, Dr. Brennan," Micah answered as she nudged Christine.

"Actually, Mom, we wanted to talk to you about something," Christine started. Brennan looked at her daughter as she finished the groceries.

"Alright, I'm listening," she said as she awaited her daughter's next words.

"Well, Micah was telling me about her aunt and uncle that she stays with every summer," Christine began.

"The homosexual uncle, correct?" Brennan interrupted.

"Everyone except him believes that," Micah stated as Christine continued.

"Well, Micah invited me to come stay with her and her family for a month until the Fourth of July."

"Oh, that's nice, honey. Where do they live?" Brennan asked.

Christine took a deep breath as she answered, "Washington, DC." Brennan stopped. She avoided looking at Christine because she didn't want her daughter to see a look of pain in her eyes. DC held many memories for Brennan, many of them good, but many of them bad. She had tried for twelve years to keep her daughter from Washington, DC, because she was worried he would find her. Now, she could either be faced with a brooding teenager or risk the fact that he would attempt to locate her.

"By yourself? Christine, don't you think that's a little far to go by yourself?" Brennan asked.

"Well, Aunt Hallie will be home most of the day when's she not working at her store, and there are gyms and malls we can go to. There are really good taxi services there, and my cousin can protect us if we need it because he's a cop," Micah insisted to Dr. Brennan.

Brennan looked at Micah and Christine, who had pleading looks in their eyes. Brennan hated to be the mother who wouldn't allow her daughter to have the fun that she deserved to have. Her daughter was top of her junior high class, a freshman cheerleader, and never disobeyed her mother. It wouldn't hurt her to get out of the house for a few weeks and do fun stuff before classes picked back up.

"Okay, you can go, but if anything goes wrong, I mean, ONE thing, you come home right away!" Brennan agreed. Christine and Micah squealed in excitement as they reached around to hug Brennan.

"Thank you Momma!" Christine exclaimed as she kissed her mother on the cheek and headed upstairs to begin to pack her bags for the biggest journey of her summertime.

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**_Coming up next...  
The girls' trip to DC gets underway, but it's just the beginning of a long road for these two girls and their families...  
_**

**_Reviews! :)_**


	3. To DC We Go!

**Hey hey! Here we are with update 3! Thank you for your lovely critiques thus far! One quick thing I want to point out: Christine's name is Christine Angela Brennan. Brennan changed her name after she left. She wanted to make sure Booth NEVER found Christine. You'll kind of see why later on! Just wanted to point that out! Ok, on we go!**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Bones, if I did, then that ending to Monday's night episode would have been totally different! D:**

* * *

"Oh, promise me you'll be careful?" Brennan asked Christine for the tenth time that morning as she, Christine, and Micah arrived at the train terminal. Brennan had been very reluctant after the initial agreement to allow Christine to go through with the trip. Christine had seemed so excited, though, and Brennan couldn't begin to imagine the look on her daughter's face if she had told her she couldn't go on the trip.

"I promise, Mom. I have my phone and my laptop, so we'll be able to talk. You're still coming down for the 4th of July barbecue, right?" Christine asked pointedly, assuring that her mom wouldn't be able to back out.

"Yes, Chris, I promise I will be there," Brennan said smiling. On the outside she was smiling, but on the inside, her guts were filled with pain. She couldn't believe her daughter, her precious Christine, was going to the city she had hoped so desperately to keep her from. Brennan secretly prayed that Booth wouldn't DARE attempt to find Christine. If he did, there would be a price to pay. Brennan had kept Christine from him for a reason and even though Christine was older now and could handle the truth about what happened between Brennan and Booth, Brennan didn't want to tell Christine about it.

Christine and Micah were loading the rest of their bags onto a cart minus one bag with Christine's MacBook. The girls had planned to do a little more research into DC, specifically into the FBI and their employees. By going through the rest of the box, they had learned that Booth was the agent liaison for the Jeffersonian Institute so that was going to be their first stop once the duo arrived in DC. If that didn't work, then they were going to go straight to the FBI and go from there. Christine was nervous, but excited and couldn't wait to get onto the train to get started.

"Final boarding call for train 2141 to DC," the announcer called through the train station. Christine gasped. Her train had arrived. Brennan leaned in and held her fourteen year daughter tightly in her arms, not knowing what would happen in the month they would be apart. Christine held back her tears as she whispered, "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Chris," Brennan said as the tears started streaming down her face. Christine let go of her mom as she and Micah boarded the train. Christine looked out the window and waved goodbye to her mother until she disappeared from the terminal

As soon as the train ride got good and going, Christine opened up her laptop and opened up the bookmarked links she had saved. The Jeffersonian was a beautiful institution. The FBI worked really closely with them. Their website was linked as well. She clicked it. Her dad's face welcomed her to the site. He had recently been promoted to the head of International Affairs and even though she had never met him, she was incredibly proud of her dad.

"So you nervous?" Micah's voice interrupted her thoughts. Christine managed a nod. "What's he look like today?" Christine pointed at the picture on her laptop. "Wowza!" Micah exclaimed.

"Tell me about it! He is a cutie! EXACTLY the person my mom would have dated!" Christine exclaimed.

"Doesn't it make you wonder why she left him to begin with? If he looks like THAT?!" Micah posed the question. A look of thought washed over Christine's face.

"Yeah actually, it does…" Christine paused.

After the girls arrived in D.C. and dropped off their bags, they headed straight to the Jeffersonian Institute. Christine stood at the front entrance, frozen.

"You ready?" Micah asked.

"No," Christine replied.

Micah waited a few minutes, then said, "You ready?"

With a sigh, Christine said, "Let's do this."

After a quick talk with the front desk man, the girls were sent over to the Jeffersonian Institute. The desk guard had said that Booth was assigned to help with a high profile case that needed everyone, even department heads, to jump aboard. "Excuse me, is there an Agent Booth here today?" Christine asked the security guard at the front desk of the institute.

"He just left," a voice said from around the corner. A petite black lady with short black hair and four inch high heels appeared around the corner. She looked very professional and very nice. "But maybe I can help. I'm Dr. Camille Saroyan, the head of the Jeffersonian. And you are?" Cam added, then she got her first good look at the girl. She stared in disbelief as she remembered the last time she had seen this young girl.

* * *

_"Auntie Cam, auntie Cam!" Young Christine said as she raced into the open arms of Cam. "Hi, Chris! What are you doing here?" Cam asked happily._

"_Mommy said that she left something in her office and she had to have it today," Christine grumbled._

"_Well, that's good because you got to see me!" Cam exclaimed._

"_Yeah, but I'm very hungry," Christine said rubbing her stomach._

"_Well, how about this weekend me and Miss Michelle take you to go get ice cream?" Cam asked as a bright look overcame the young girl's eyes._

"_Oh please, oh please!" Christine said as Dr. Brennan yelled, "Come on, Christine!" Christine gave Cam one last hug and said "Bye!" _

"_Bye, Chris!" Cam responded as she watched the young girl skip away toward her mom._

* * *

"Pardon me for staring, but is your mom a Dr. Brennan?" Cam asked as she came out of her trance.

"Yes," Christine replied confusingly.

Cam let a little gasp escape from her mouth and said, "Wait here." Cam rushed off. Christine turned and looked at Micah, who shrugged. They both sat down in the chairs in the lobby right next to a sleeping obese man. His head leaned against Micah's shoulders. Micah shuddered. Christine held in her giggles.

"Ange!" Cam called out. Angela Montenegro, the forensic artist, popped out of her office.

"What's up?" she called out. Cam waved her arm and quickly raced to the lobby. Angela scurried to keep up with Cam.

"What's going on?" Angela said once Cam had reached the end of the hallway.

"Look!" Cam exclaimed. Angela looked around in the lobby.

"The fat guy in the corner?" Angela whispered.

"NO! The girl," she said pointedly. Angela looked at the girl. Like Cam, she recognized her immediately.

* * *

"_Aunt Angela, where is Uncle Jack?" Christine asked as she played with Michael at Angela's house. _

"_I don't know, sweetheart, but if he doesn't get home soon, Aunt Angela's going to eat a little girl," Angela grumbled as Dr. Brennan laughed. Christine's face began to crumble as Brennan scooped her up._

"_Sweetheart, she's not going to eat you, she'll always be there to protect you, just like me and your daddy," Brennan assured her as she looked at Angela._

"_Absolutely, sweetheart," Angela added as Christine smiled at her._

* * *

"No way," Angela whispered.

"I know," Cam replied.

"And Brennan's not with her?" Angela asked, concerned about her former best friend.

"Nope, just the two teenage girls," Cam answered.

"Should we talk to her?" Angela questioned.

"Well, I don't know. She probably doesn't remember who we are. Keep them occupied, I'm going to go find You-Know-Who," Cam replied as she raced out of the lobby.

Angela smiled and started walking over to Christine and Micah. "Hey, sweetie, what's your name?" Angela said as she sat down next to Christine.

"Christine," she replied.

"Christine, that's such a pretty name," Angela said.

"And what am I? Chop liver?" Micah grunted. Unfortunately, the fat guy's head was still on her shoulders.

"This is my best friend, Micah," Christine said, trying not to laugh. Angela, however, started giggling and helped get his head off of Micah's shoulders.

"Thanks," Micah said. Angela smiled as she began to talk to Christine and Micah. As the three kept talking, Christine began to remember everything about Angela and her family, including a special someone in her life at one point. She smiled, hoping she would get the chance to see him before she went home.

Meanwhile, Cam had left the institute and went in search of Booth. Ever since Brennan and Christine took off, he usually took his lunch breaks at a bar in downtown D.C. Cam walked in and there he was, sitting at a bar, drowning away his sorrows in a bottle of beer.

"I need you to come with me," Cam said as she sat down.

"Why?" Booth said.

"I think Christine finally found you," Cam said with a smile.

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**Perfect place for a cliffhanger, right? ;)  
**

_**Coming up next: **_

_**A reunion twelve years in the making...and a new face appears in the picture...**_

_**REVIEWS! :)**_


	4. Friends and Fathers and Foes, Oh My!

**Loving the reviews! Loving the favorites and follows! So blessed to have you guys loving this story! A lot of people are having trouble believing that Booth would cheat on Brennan, especially after Christine's birth, and you are wanting to know how Hannah fits into this. I know, it's a crazy thought to have, but (and I am speaking out of personal experience) people are capable of the unexpected. It's sad to think about, but sometimes, our addictions get the better of us. The story of what happened will be coming out within the next chapter or two. Just hang in there!**

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Bones, but I do have some claim to Micah. :)

* * *

Booth swung his head around to look at Cam. He had been looking for something to lead him back to his daughter ever since Bones had run off with her twelve years ago and took custody of her. But he didn't want to get his hopes up, so he started to doubt Cam.

"Brennan made sure I never saw Christine after our split," Booth said, reliving the day Brennan had taken off in his brain.

* * *

_"Booth, you kissed her!" Brennan screamed as Booth stomped behind her._  
_"For God's sakes, Bones, calm down! It was a harmless peck!" Booth retorted._  
_"Harmless or not, you still kissed her! You said you were over her! You were supposed to be with me!" Bones said as she felt the tears stream down her face._  
_"Oh, just like you said you were over your ex, huh? It goes both ways!" Booth yelled back, immediately noticing he hit a nerve in her. Booth leaned in to hug her as an apology, but she shoved away. "NO!" She yelled as she stormed off._  
_Booth heard a little whine in the background. _  
_"Daddy?" Christine, then three, had whispered._  
_Booth ran over to his daughter, picked her up, and began to comfort her. _  
_"It's ok, sweetheart. Daddy and Mommy just got into a little fight. It'll all be ok by morning," he said as he laid her down in her bedroom._  
_"Daddy loves you, ok?" Booth firmly said as he kissed Christine goodnight and shut her bedroom door. He walked to the closed bedroom door and tried to open it. It was locked. Booth sighed and went to lay down on the couch._  
_"By morning, it'll all be ok," he kept telling himself throughout the night._  
_ The next morning, he woke up and found a note on the table: _

_To the man I thought I knew:_

_While normally I wouldn't do this to someone I trusted (or thought I trusted) I thought that the best way to get closure would be through a letter. Because if I talked to you face to face, then I might do something that both of us would regret._

_I loved you. I loved you like I never thought I could love someone before. Until Christine came along. But you obviously didn't feel the same. You may love Christine now, but by the time this proceeding ends, she'll probably despise you even more than I do._

_I hope you and Hannah are very happy together. Don't try to contact us. My phone's been disconnected, and Christine will have no memory of who her father was._

_Brennan_

_Booth raced off of the couch and ran to Christine's room. Her clothes and the majority of her toys were gone. He then ran to their bedroom and saw all of Brennan's belongings gone. He sat down on their bed and for the first time in a while, Booth sobbed._

* * *

"Look, Seeley, I don't know how she got here or why she's here. All I know is that there is a teenaged girl who looks exactly like you sitting in the lobby of the Jeffersonian waiting for me to come back and tell her what is going on," Cam replied, seeing the look of despair on Booth's face. "This could be your chance to be the father to her you never got to be," she added.

Booth sighed. Once again, Camille had a point. He had never gotten the chance to be a father to Christine. Parker was gone with his mother a lot, so Booth never really got to see him. When Brennan had told him she was having a little girl, he was looking forward to spoiling her to death and playing overprotective dad with her, but he never got the chance. Having her as a teenager would be the best thing he could imagine. He looked at Camille and said, "Let's go." Cam smiled as Booth followed her out of the bar.

* * *

"You're Michael's dad!" Christine happily exclaimed to Dr. Jack Hodgins. Angela had had to go back to work, and Jack had come out to spend some time with the girls while Cam was gone.  
"Yes sir, he's fixing to be a sophomore in high school," Hodgins answered as he showed a picture of Michael to the girls. He had gotten tall, had sandy brown hair like his father and was, in short, absolutely gorgeous. Christine kept her fascination to herself as she showed Micah the picture.

"He is nothing like what I remember him to be," Christine said quietly.

While Jack was talking to the girls, Angela, Dr. Lance Sweets, Mr. Colin Fisher, and Mr. Arastoo Vaziri were watching the three and stalling for Cam a little bit longer.

"Is that," Sweets asked.

"Sure is," Angela replied.

"Is Dr. B," Fisher asked.

"Nope," Angela answered annoyed.

"Does Booth," Vaziri asked.

"He will," Angela replied.

"I will what?" Booth's voice from behind them shocked the group. He looked behind the group and saw the girl that he knew was his daughter.

* * *

Micah saw Booth coming as she whispered, "Oh my god, Christine, look." Christine leaned her head and saw, for the first time in twelve years, her father.

"Micah, what do I do?" Christine whispered.

"I don't know!" Micah exclaimed.

"We didn't exactly think this part through, did we?" Christine muttered.

"Well, we're not exactly the queens of plan making, now, are we?" Micah retorted as they sat in silence.

"Micah, what do I do?" Christine repeated her question again.

"God, Chris, pull yourself together. This is what you've been wanting! Get up there and meet your dad, that's what you do!" Micah encouraged.

* * *

"Oh my god, she's gorgeous," Booth murmured. He then turned to the group gathered behind him. "Wh-what do I do?" he stuttered.

"Talk to her," Angela said, plain and simple.

"All she wants is to meet her dad," Cam added.

Booth took a breath and walked over to where the girls were sitting. Jack, taking a hint, stood up and walked over to where the "squints" were standing. Christine stood up and got a good look at her father.

"Dad?" Christine whispered, not able to believe this was actually happening.

Without saying a word, Booth leaned over and gave his daughter a hug for the first time in twelve years. Christine couldn't keep the tears from falling as she sobbed into her father's suit. Cam was wiping tears from her eyes as Angela laid her head on Jack's shoulder while they watched the reunion. Booth finally let go of Christine and got a good look at his daughter. She was definitely the spitting image of her mother.

"How did you," Booth asked in disbelief

"A little research, a LOT of digging, and a simple train ride," Micah interrupted. She had been fighting to blink back tears upon the reunion of Christine and Booth, but couldn't, and her face was glistening because of it.

"Dad, this is my best friend, Micah Willis," Christine introduced as the trio sat down and began to chat.

* * *

"This is just so sweet," Angela exclaimed.

"Hey what's everyone looking at?" A voice from behind the squints called out. Angela held the grimace from her face as she turned around to face the new forensic anthropologist, Dr. Mileena Frazier. Dr. Frazier was the woman who had become Booth's new FBI liasion before he got promoted and she had become a tad bit obsessed with Booth, especially when she found out he was divorced. Of course, Booth was too heartbroken over Brennan to accept her advances, but that didn't stop her from giving up.

"Who the hell is that?" Mileena whispered.

"Uhhhhhh," Cam stuttered, trying to find an answer that wouldn't make her suspicious.

"Booth's niece, she hasn't been around in years and he wanted to catch up with her," Angela said. Cam nodded in agreement.

"Oh well, maybe I should go say hello," Mileena said.

"NO!" Everyone screamed. Mileena stopped in her tracks.

"He hasn't seen her in eleven years and he really just wants some time alone with her," Angela said. "As a matter of fact," she added, just then coming up with the greatest idea to get herself out of this jam and get out of work for a little while. "I was just about to drop them off for lunch."

"You were?" Mileena asked, believing every word.

"You were?" Cam asked uncertainly, not entirely sure where she was going with this.

"Yes, I was," Angela said and with that, she walked over to the three, and said "Follow me." With puzzled looks on their faces, the trio followed Angela out of the Jeffersonian.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Booth asked once Angela had the car going.

"Mileena," was all Angela had to say. Booth groaned.

"Who's Mileena?" Christine asked, sitting in the backseat with Micah.

"I thought she was on vacation!" Booth exclaimed, ignoring Christine.

"Who's Mileena?" Micah repeated, trying to be heard.

"She came back early, said she felt like you'd need her help this week," Angela answered.

"I'd like her help getting her butt of here," Booth retorted.

"Who is Mileena?" Christine and Micah said together. Angela looked at the girls at the backseat. They reminded her so much of her and Brennan.

"Your dad's new partner," Angela replied. Christine looked confused. Angela sighed and said, "When you and your mom took off, your dad cried for about a week."

"You cried, Dad?" Christine asked in disbelief.

"I am not ashamed to admit that there was tears involved," Booth added before Angela continued.

"Cam hired two of your mom's old interns until she could find a permanent replacement. One of them was Fisher."

"Was he the one who looks like he could use a dose of happy medication?" Micah asked.

"He needs a lot more than just happy medication, sweetheart," Angela answered. "Anyway, Fisher didn't work out that well as the main man in charge, so Daisy Wick came along. She was…"Angela paused, trying to find the right words to describe Daisy.

"Enthusiastic? Maybe psychotic?" Booth added from the front seat.

"Yeah, that's pretty much how she was. Needless to say, Cam did not leave her there very long," Angela agreed as she turned to get onto the freeway.

"Then Cam met the she-devil," Booth said.

"Who?" Micah asked.

"He means Dr. Frazier," Angela translated. "Don't get me wrong, she's the sweetest lady, but she can be a bit," she added.

"Obsessive," Booth piped in.

"How?" Christine and Micah asked together.

"She believes that for a partnership to work best that the two partners need to be as connected as possible," Booth began.

"So she tried to sleep with you?" Micah asked matter-of-factly. The three people in the car stared at Micah. "What?" she asked innocently.

"She moved into my new neighborhood and is always in my office. She is crazy, that's all there is to it," Booth continued.

Christine saw the look of dread on her father's face. What he wanted, and what she knew he needed, was for her mom to come back. With a little help from her newly reunited friends and Micah, Christine knew she could restore her family back to normal.

* * *

After their mostly quiet lunch at Booth's favorite diner, Booth and Christine dropped Micah off and went back to the Jeffersonian to hang out with Angela, Jack, and Cam. When they walked into the lab, Christine's eyes landed on the boy next to Angela. She recognized him immediately as the guy from the picture that Jack had shown her earlier.

"Michael?" Christine asked happily as Michael turned around and spotted his former best friend. Michael smiled as he stood up.

"Oh my goodness, Christine, you look amazing!" Michael said as he gave Christine a hug.

"I knew he would recognize you," Angela said with a smile and smirk, noting the looks in Christine's eyes.

"Yeah, we were the best of friends for the longest time!" Michael exclaimed as he looked at Christine.

"Yeah, he was pretty upset when you left," Jack added. There was an awkward silence in the room as they were reminded of why they were separated for so long to begin with. "Well, this just got awkward, so I'm going to cut into some bug larvae. Call if you need me," Jack broke the silence as he walked out of the room.

"Yeah, we've got to head back, too. Dad is cooking us dinner tonight," Christine said as she stood up. She looked at Michael and said, "It was great seeing you!"

"You too! Definitely text me!" Michael said as he wrote down his cell phone number and gave it to Christine. She smiled as she and Booth walked outside. Booth was shocked at his daughter being the boy magnet at only fourteen. Maybe she was just like her daddy after all!

* * *

**This is just so much fun to write! :)  
**

_**Coming up next...**_

_**All of Christine's anger from the past twelve years comes out. Plus Booth has to deal with his first issue with Christine: A Date!**_

_**Reviews! :)**_


	5. Love Blooms

**First off, I want to apologize for leaving y'all hanging this long on this story! I had so much going on between work and graduation festivities! I also wanted to make sure that I perfected this chapter, and I hope that you find this a good chapter! It's about to get real interesting for our girl!**

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am not the owner of Bones. I do however solemnly swear that I own Micah. :)**

* * *

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE ME LEAVE WHEN THERE WAS A HOT GUY INVOLVED!" Micah yelled at her best friend after she got home later that night.

"Don't blame me! Blame good old Hallie!" Christine joked as she and Micah were settling down for a long slumber after a very long day.

"So, after you got his number, what happened?" Micah asked.

"Well, Dad took me to his apartment and we hung out there, he asked me questions about Mom," Christine replied.

"Like?" Micah pressed, wanting the details.

"Is she dating? Was she seeing anyone? Stuff like that."

"You don't think he wants her back, do you?!" Micah exclaimed.

"I don't know. Obviously, there was a reason that they split, but I guess it wouldn't be bad for them to get back together," Christine answered as she heard her phone ringing. She picked it up to read the Caller ID.

"Oh no," Christine said.

"What?" Micah replied anxiously.

"It's Mom." Christine whispered. Micah motioned for her to pick it up. She finally did. "Hello?" Christine said.

"Hey, hun! How's DC?" Brennan's voice spoke through the phone. Brennan was missing Christine, but secretly, she was hoping that Booth hadn't found her. It was a conversation that she wasn't ready to have yet.

"Awesome! Micah and I are having tons of fun!" Christine said. Deep down, she wanted to admit to her mom what was really happening, but she knew she couldn't. "We went swimming today, walked through the park, ate dinner and then we just got home," she fibbed. It wasn't a lie. She DID do most of that, just not with Micah.

"Well, that's good," Bones replied. "Any cute guys?" she teased.

"None yet, but I'm sure there will be one," Christine laughed fakely, desperately wanting to tell her mom about Michael.

"Well, your cheer coach called and camp starts the week after you come back from DC. I've already gotten your practice outfits from your coach, so you're set there. We just got to get you tennis shoes and a few other things that we'll do when you come home. Oh, have I told you that I miss you?" Brennan said.

Christine smiled and said, "I miss you, too, Mom." She heard her call waiting go off as she took her phone away from her ear and looked at the ID. It was Michael! Christine gasped as she said quickly, "Well, I got to go to bed now. Micah and I are going to the gym for an early workout. I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Or text? I finally got in tune with the 21st Century," Brennan said.

"Ok, I'll text you then. You need the practice!" Christine laughed shockingly, just for her mom to get off the phone so she could answer Michael's call.

"I love you, Chris," Brennan said.

"Love you too, Mom. G'night," Christine said as she hung up the phone and clicked to Michael's call. "Hello?" she said happily.

"Hey, Christine, it's Michael!" Michael said. Christine detected the nerves in his voice as he spoke.

"Hey, Michael, what's up?" she asked. Micah gasped as she raced to the bed to listen in on her best friend's conversation.

"Well, I wanted to call and make sure I got the right number first, and I wanted to see what you were doing tomorrow night," Michael asked. Christine's heart stopped beating as her eyes got wide.

"Nothing that I am aware of," she answered.

"Good, because I thought that maybe we could go to dinner and catch up on old times," Michael asked. Micah squealed quietly as Christine answered with a yes. "Great, I'll pick you up tomorrow at say seven?" he asked.

"Sounds great! See you then!" Christine smiled as she hung up.

"We haven't even been here for two full days and you're already getting dates! How is this possible?!" Micah asked jokingly.

"I just have that gift! But I feel really bad about the whole Mom thing. I can't keep lying to her like that," Christine said as she flopped onto her bed.

"It's okay, Chris. It'll all be fine. You leave on what day?" Micah said, suddenly getting another great idea.

"July 5th. Mom's staying here that last weekend," Christine replied.

"Chris, I think we can get your parents back together!" Micah exclaimed.

"How did we get on this subject?" Christine asked confused, but Micah kept talking.

"Come here," Micah said. Christine walked over and Micah leaned over and whispered her plan to her in her ear.

"That's perfect!" Christine exclaimed.

"I know, because I am the queen of good ideas, and you are the queen of bad ideas!" Micah replied jokingly. Christine hit her best friend with a pillow as they laid down. Christine couldn't wait to get started as she fell back on her bed and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

"Wait, what?" Booth asked in disbelief.

"I think you and Christine need to come in for some parental counseling," Sweets repeated. The two gentlemen were in a local diner, per request from Sweets.

"I was just getting used to not going to weekly counseling sessions," Booth muttered. He and Bones were in couples' counseling for at least eight years, maybe longer. After Brennan had taken off, he had just stopped going.

Sweets pretended to ignore his comment and said, "Come in later today and we'll talk." Booth grunted a "Whatever" and exited the diner.

* * *

At three o' clock that afternoon, Christine and Booth were in Sweets' office.

"So, Christine, what's the last thing you remember about the night you and your mother went away?" Sweets asked.

Christine sat back and began to remember the events of that night.

* * *

_"Daddy?" A frightened Christine had said to her father. _

_Booth picked her up and comforted her. "It's ok, sweetheart. Daddy and Mommy just got into a little fight. It'll all be ok by morning," he said as he laid her down in her bedroom._

"_Daddy loves you, ok?" Booth firmly said as he kissed Christine goodnight and shut her bedroom door. _

_Five hours later, she awoke to her being gently stirred in her bed. She opened her eyes and saw her mother. _

_"Come on, baby, wake up," her mother whispered quietly. _

_Still not fully awoken, she lifted her arms up and Brennan picked her up. Christine laid her head on her mom's shoulders and fell back asleep. When she woke up again, she was in her carseat_

_"Momma, where goin?" Christine asked._

"_We're going on a trip, Christine," Brennan answered as she buckled her into the car seat._

"_Where's dada?" Christine asked again. Brennan's eyes brimmed with tears as she answered, "He's not coming with us, baby," and drove away with her daughter in tow._

* * *

Christine felt the tears brimming in her eyes as she jumped up and yelled, "Why did you leave us? Or, well, why did **we** leave?"

Booth stared at his daughter in disbelief. "You don't know why you and your mother left?" he asked.

"No, and that's what I want to know!" she exclaimed, trying to hold back the tears.

Booth sighed as he recalled the story of why his wife and daughter left him. "One night, your mom and I had gotten into a fight over an old flame of hers who called her up. I was angry, so I went to a bar. An old friend of mine named Hannah called me up and wanted to have dinner with me. We did used to date, but I thought that we could keep it professional and be friends. Well, I had a little too much to drink and Hannah wanted to know if I was still seeing your mom, and I was. She wasn't too thrilled with that, so she decided to show me what I was missing," Booth recalled as he watched Christine's face crumble. "Your mom came into the restaurant and saw us kiss. She got furious and stormed out of the restaurant. I followed her and we got into another fight and when I woke up the next morning, you and your mother were gone," Booth said simply, feeling the tears starting to fall from his eyes.

Christine was stunned. Twelve years she had gone without a father figure in her life, and all because he had kissed his ex-girlfriend because he was drunk. She was furious and she was quick to let him know exactly how she felt. "I went eleven years without my father because of you! This whole time, I thought it was because of something Mom had done, when really, It was all your fault! You decided to cheat! You decided to get drunk, kiss an old flame and expect not to get caught! Well, guess what buddy? YOU GOT CAUGHT!" Christine screamed. She stopped, took a few breaths, and went right back at him. Sweets watched the whole confrontation, stunned at the side of the teenager he was seeing. Booth was stone-faced as Christine kept going. "Do you know how hard it was all that time? Every Career Day at school seeing all of the kids dads come and not having you there? All the Father-Daughter dances that Grandpa Max took me to and all the things I had to do without you? You weren't there for me! And it kills me knowing that it was your fault that I went through that for twelve years! " Christine sobbed as she sat back down and just cried.

"Agent Booth, would you like to respond?" Sweets asked after a few moments of silence.

Booth looked at Christine. "Chris, sweetheart, you know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you or, believe it or not, your mother. That night, I...just...it was all a stupid mistake," Booth said.

"A mistake that cost your wife and your daughter!" Christine interrupted.

"Which is why I am telling you I am going to do everything I can to make this right again," Booth said as he grabbed Christine's hands.

"You promise that? And that you'll never leave me again?" Christine whispered.

"I promise," Booth replied. He felt the tears fall from his eyes as he and Christine shared a hug.

Sweets leaned back in his chair and smiled. His mission for the day was complete.

* * *

"Micah, how does this look?" Christine asked as she looked at herself in the mirror for the twelfth time that evening. She had changed outfits five times, had redone her hair three times, changed shoes twice, and redone her makeup twice. This time, she stood in the mirror wearing a blue pleated sleeveless lace dress and white color blocked platform sandals. Her hair was in loose curls, and her lips were a bright red as she redid her eyes with black liquid eyeliner.

"Chris, you look gorgeous!" Micah replied as she grabbed a triple Chevron necklace out of her jewelry box and slipped it around her best friend's neck, completing her outfit. A knock on the door startled the two as Aunt Hallie poked her head in the door.

"There's a guy here for you, Christine," she said as she knowingly smiled and exited. Christine smiled and hugged Micah.

"I want to hear all about it when you come back, ok?" Micah said as she sent her best friend out the door. As Christine came down the stairs, she saw Michael looking handsome, in a grey slim fit button up shirt, blue jeans and Toms. He had a bouquet of daisies in his arms, which was Christine's favorite flower. She felt herself blushing as she took them from his arms and greeted Michael with a hug.

"Bye, Aunt Hallie!" Christine exclaimed as she shut the door to the house and got into Michael's truck.

"So, what's the grand plan for tonight?" Christine asked as Michael began driving.

"Well, there's an amazing diner about five minutes outside of DC limits that has great food, and then the movie at 7:30, then maybe dessert if there's time?" Michael asked. Christine smiled and nodded as she looked out the window and watched the nighttime DC skyline pass by.

* * *

Her date with Michael was easily her favorite night of her trip to DC. He bought her an amazing meal at Trailblazer's, laughed her heart out at the movie that night, and enjoyed frozen yogurt at a dessert café right down the road from the theatre. As he drove her home that night, they were laughing about something that had happened that night at the theatre with another couple.

"That was such a great movie, though!" Christine said as Michael walked her to the door.

"Yeah, I had heard that it wasn't that great, but I was pleasantly surprised!" He said as he stopped at the doorstep. They looked at each other as the wind began to blow. He reached in for a hug as she returned his gesture. As she broke their hug, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Christine began to blush but smiled as she kissed him, this time on the lips. She smiled as he began to kiss her back. When they broke their kiss, she smiled, whispered goodnight, and opened the door to go inside. She took a deep breath and headed upstairs to her room. Sure enough, there was Micah, laying on the bed, reading her magazine, waiting on her best friend to come home. It was in that moment when she realized how truly lucky she was to have a best friend like her.

"Well?!" Micah exclaimed.

"Sorry, I don't kiss and tell," Christine said secretly as Micah began to squeal and begged for more details. The two talked all night about the first of hopefully many dates between Christine and Michael.

* * *

**How sweet are they! lol...reviews? Shares?**

_**Up Next:**_

_**The month rolls by, and soon it's time for Brennan to arrive in DC for her weekend stay. How is Christine going to tell Booth that she's coming in? And will Booth try to get her back? Or is their relationship really done for good?**_

_**A/N: I know, It's not likely that Booth would get back with Hannah, even for a dinner. But considering that Brennan was talking to an ex of hers back then (as I'm pretty sure I alluded to in an earlier chapter), it's not impossible to think that he might would go for dinner with Hannah...it sucks, but it's just a plot point so that the rest of the story can go on.**_


	6. Tell Them All The Truth

**Next chapter! Gonna try and get this completely done before I leave for camp on the 24th so we'll see how this goes!**

**Disclaimer: I no own Bones, but I own Micah.**

* * *

The next two weeks flew by. Christine evenly split her time between her dad, Micah, and Michael. She went on three or four more dates with Michael, spent time with Micah at the gym, tanning bed, and the mall, and even hung out with her dad at his job and at the Jeffersonian. As her final weekend without her mother ended, Christine began to get nervous. She had yet to tell her father about her mother's arrival to DC, and wasn't quite sure how she was going to tell him. She had figured that she would cross that bridge when she got to it, but now that it was here, she had no idea how to do it.

That Monday morning, Booth and Christine were running in the park.

"So what's your plans for today?" Booth asked.

"Nothing much," Christine said nervously.

"Well, I'm off today, so I was thinking maybe you and I could spend some time together today," Booth said.

"That sounds like..." Christine started to say, but then she remembered that she was going to shop for her mom's present and buy some things for her and Micah's plan to try and reunite her parents. But, of course, she didn't want to tell him that, so she came up with an excuse.

"Micah and I were going to go to the mall and do some shopping. We need new swimsuits for cheer camp and I need some shorts and stuff," Christine stuttered. Booth's instincts told him a different story as he heard the stuttering in her voice. Even though he had only known Christine for a month, he was already able to tell when she was lying.

"The question is," he thought silently, "what is she lying to me about?"

"Well, how about I come with you guys?' Booth said.

"No!" Christine said forcefully. "I mean, don't you have paperwork or something to do?" She immediately added. She then turned around to continue her jog. Booth then spotted her cell phone hanging out of her back pocket, about to fall. He grabbed it just as it fell.

"Hey, Chris," he started to say, but then he changed his mind.

"Maybe I can use this to figure out what's going on," Booth thought. He flipped out the keyboard and noticed there was a lock code. He growled. Leave it to Christine to lock her phone when Dad needs to get into it. He tried the most logical code first, 1234. No dice. he then tried the last four digits of her phone number, and still no luck.

"Only one more," he thought. Her birth month and day. He typed in 1107. "Jackpot!" He thought. The phone immediately became open for his use. He went straight for the text messages. Her inbox only held 100 at a time, so he flipped through each and every one. Most of them were from friends back home or from himself.

He was just about to give up, when a ring tone went off. Loudly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Christine had jogged about a quarter mile ahead of Booth.

"Wow, that was close," she thought. "Now I just got to get through…"

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a ringtone go off behind her. Out of instinct, she grabbed her back pocket and, to her surprise, she didn't feel her phone. Her look went from worried to fearful as she ran back to where her father was.

"Dad! Dad, have you seen my..." Christine yelled when, all of a sudden, she rounded the corner and found Booth standing there, reading a text message.

"Good morning, dear! Four days until I get to see your beautiful face! Have a good day! Love you, Mom," Booth read aloud. Christine froze. She had been found out.

"What's going on, Christine?" Booth asked. Christine burst into tears as the entire story came pouring out of her. How she'd been so desperate to find her father, how she'd deceived her mother to come here, and how she had lied basically the whole time she was here.

Booth, at first, was furious at Christine. He couldn't understand why she'd lie to him, especially when her mother and his former lover was involved. But as he saw his only daughter crying about she had deceived everyone in her life, he couldn't be mad at her as he hugged her.

"You're not mad?" Christine asked, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"I'm not mad, just a little perturbed. I love the fact that you did all this just to find me, but wasn't there a way you could have done it without lying to me or your mother?" He asked, waiting for an answer.

"Every time I ever asked about my father, she just said, 'He was a bum and ran off.' That was it. I never got a straight answer or anything. I never even knew she worked in D.C. until I started researching her for my family living class last spring. That's when I found out about you and Mom," she answered.

Booth sighed. So Bones had been telling Christine all these lies to begin with. Once he thought about, there was only one thing he needed to do.

"I need to talk to your mother, Christine," he said to Christine.

"No! Please, Daddy, she doesn't know that you found me. I don't even know what she's going to say when she finds out!

"When were you going to tell her?" Booth asked knowingly.

"At Micah's family's barbecue this weekend, which you're invited to, by the way," Christine answered.

"Thanks for telling me that, now," Booth started as he sighed. "Okay, we'll have to string your little charade along a little longer so we can figure out what we're going to tell Brennan. I'll act as a escort or something once we pick her up. When does her train arrive?" He asked.

"Four o' clock on Thursday," she answered.

"Ok, so I'll borrow one of the cars at the FBI and let that be the escort car. You just have to play along with me as well, ok?" Booth asked as he looked at Christine.

"Really? I've been acting with her for a month now. I'm pretty sure I can pull it off for a few more days," Christine answered knowingly as she stood up from the bench and hugged her dad. "Thanks, Dad," she said as he embraced his daughter and they walked back to the car.

* * *

Thursday afternoon came around and Christine was dreading four o' clock. Booth had planned to disguise himself as a driver, take Christine and Micah to pick up Brennan from the station, then he would head to the apartment and then what? He hadn't yet figured that out, but he would. He couldn't go through her visit without at least confronting her about what happened all those years ago. If he knew her as well as he thought he did, she would try to take Christine away forever, and he wouldn't let that happen without a fight.

At three thirty, Booth, Micah and Christine headed to the train station. The car ride was silent. Christine was so nervous, her palms were sweaty. Booth grabbed her hand and whispered, "It's all right baby. It'll be okay." Christine smiled and held onto his hand. But, inside, she was still really nervous.

The girls waited patiently at the train gate. Finally, they spotted her mom. Nervous as she was, she was so excited to see her mom. She was wearing a brown sundress, leather sandals and a huge grin on her face. Christine was shocked. Was this the same woman she had left in June or was this a clone? Either way, she was excited to see her.

"Christine!" Bones spotted her, dropped her bags, and ran. Christine ran right to her and jumped into her arms. Micah hung back a little bit but greeted Brennan when Christine finished her greeting. Booth hung back in the corner and watched the happy reunion.

"She's still hot," Booth thought as he watched his daughter and his ex-wife catch up. "I got to find a way to talk to her. But not now. I got to keep my cover but I will get my chance," Booth banished the thought of talking to Bones out of his head as Christine, Micah and Brennan walked over to the car.

Booth put on a gruff voice as he opened the door and said, "How are you miss?" Brennan stopped a minute. She recognized the voice as familiar. Christine bit her lip as her mother asked, "Who is this?"

"He's a chauffeur. My aunt and uncle recommended him to me as a way to show you around DC," Micah lied. Booth and Christine nodded. Brennan shrugged her shoulders as she got into the car. Christine mouthed "Thank you" as Micah nodded and the two got into the car and exited the station.

* * *

After Booth dropped off the three at Micah's family home, he drove back to his house, not exactly sure what to do. He wanted to set the record straight and let Brennan know exactly how he felt: that after all of the hell she put him through, he was still madly in love with her. But, he knew that she wouldn't receive his feelings so strongly. After a few minutes of thought, he finally picked up the phone and called one person he knew would be able to help in some way. After all, he found his way back to his wife. Maybe he could help Booth find a way to Brennan.

At the Jeffersonian, Hodgins was working on a lab specimen with Dr. Frazier standing nearby. Suddenly, Hodgins felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, under all the lab equipment he was wearing. He glanced at his pocket, then at Mileena in the corner.

"Really, Jack?" She asked annoyingly.

"I can't help it if I'm popular," he said wittingly. Mileena groaned and pulled the phone out of his pocket. Being the nosy person that she was known to be, she checked the ID on the phone.

"Ooh la la, it's Booth," she said in a sing-song voice. Hodgins dropped his tools and grabbed his phone just as Mileena was about to press talk. He knew how much Booth disliked Mileena and knew he would be curious if she answered the phone.

"Hey man, what's up?" Hodgins asked as he tried to take off his lab gloves.

"Man, I need help," Booth said.

"What's up?" Hodgins asked. Booth repeated the whole story as Christine had told it to him and by the time he finished the story, Hodgins had sat down in Angela's office and had put him on speakerphone so Cam, Angela, and Sweets could hear.

"So Brennan's in town now?" Angela asked.

''Yes she is," Booth replied.

"And Christine hasn't told her what's been going on this month?" Cam asked.

"That's right."

"This could bring up some issues between you and Dr. B that you may not be ready to face just yet," Sweets piped in.

"No, really, Sweets? I thought it was going to be rainbows and sunshine! I didn't think that this was going to happen period!" Booth exclaimed.

"Look, man, whatever you decide to do, we're behind you one hundred and ten percent, ok?" Hodgins assured him.

"Okay. Thanks you guys," Booth said.

"No problem, man, good luck," Hodgins said and hung up. Booth closed the phone and took a deep breath. Tomorrow, he would tell Brennan. Tomorrow. He went to sleep immediately.

* * *

Christine, however, had trouble falling asleep. Once she finally drifted off to sleep, she didn't stay there for long. At about 12:30 that morning, Christine felt a hand cover her mouth.

"You move, your daddy and mommy die," the voice said. Once her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw a tall figure standing over her bed. The man had Micah's limp body over his shoulder. Christine tried to place the voice, but it was gruff and Christine didn't recognize it. Christine continued to struggle and kick until she felt herself fall limp into the arms of her kidnapper.

* * *

**PLOT TWIST: IT'S ABOUT TO GET REALLY CRAZY IN THIS STORY.**

**LOL REVIEWS PLEASE! :)**


	7. The Evil Genius Returns

**Ok, here we go! Continuation of this story! How did you all feel about the little plot twist?! Also, someone pointed out the issue with Christine's age. I did mess up on the age Christine was when Brennan left. I may have said she was three, she was actually two, so twelve years later would have made her 14 at this point. Sorry for any confusion that might have caused any of you!**

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Bones, never will. Sadly...

* * *

Booth woke up the next morning, ready to face the possible dangers of the day. But first, he had to go to work for a little while. Right after, however, was the barbecue, and he and Christine had decided this was the day they were going to tell Brennan what had been happening and how he felt about her.

"Great, just what I need to do on the most stressful day of my life," Booth said. As he was driving to work, his phone rang. Expecting it to be Christine, he was surprised to see that it was Angela.

"Ange? Everything okay?" Booth asked.

"Booth..." she said. Booth could tell she had been crying.

"Angela, what's wrong?" Booth demanded.

''Christine...she's..." She cried out, until finally she burst into tears. Booth pulled over. What had happened to his daughter?

Hodgins picked up the phone. "Booth, Christine and Micah were reported missing by Micah's family this morning. There were signs of a break in but no forensics yet. We have no official leads, but Christine's phone was found about fifteen miles away," he reported. Booth stopped breathing. It took him a few minutes to get his heart beating.

"Should I go?" Booth asked.

Hodgins knew what he meant. "Do it. The only thing she can do is turn you down."

Booth sighed. "Alright, thanks man," he said.

"Good luck," he said and he hung up. Booth tried to soak in the news of the past few minutes. Finally he just pushed down the gas pedal and headed to Micah's family's home.

* * *

There were a few FBI cars at the home when he arrived. He stood at the door and knocked, unsure if he was going to be able to do this. An agent answered the door and Booth asked to speak to Dr. Brennan. A disheveled and sad Brennan met his gaze a few moments later. Her face went from pure sadness to confusion and disgust when she saw his face.

"What do you want?" Brennan asked angrily.

"You know what I want," he answered as he entered the apartment. They sat down. It was pure silence.

"How did you know?" Brennan asked. Unfortunately, Booth had to repeat Christine's entire story once more. By the time he finished, Brennan was in tears.

"This is all my fault. She asked me several times over the years about you, but I was selfish and unfair not only to you but to her," Brennan started

Booth tried to grab her hand but she jerked away before he could. She didn't throw him out then, so he took her silence as a sign to keep talking. "Look, Bones," he began, calling her Bones for the first time in years, "this is not your fault. The only person's fault this is is whoever took her from us. Ok?" Booth tried to reassure her.

"But, Booth, if I hadn't lied and said all that stuff about you or about how I was transferred, she'd be home in Pittsburgh, you'd never know about her and you wouldn't be involved in all of this," she argued.

"Gosh, Bones, get a grip," Booth exclaimed. "Truthfully, this last month has been one of the greatest times I have had in a long time. Christine and I haven't done everything that we've wanted to do, but this month was a fabulous start, and if I don't see her again, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do," he started. Before he could finish his thoughts, his phone rang.

"Booth?" He answered frenzied.

"You and Brennan need to get here now," Angela said frantically.

"Who is it?" Brennan asked worriedly.

Booth waved his hand, signaling her to quiet down for a minute, like they used to do as partners. "What's up?" he asked.

"It's Pelant," Angela replied.

Booth hung up and dropped the phone. "We got to go," he said and ran out the door, with Bones trailing right behind.

* * *

Booth and Brennan entered the Jeffersonian lab, arm in arm. It was the first thing Angela noticed, but given the situation, she decided not to mention it then.

"So, we all just got this video on our emails a little while ago from an unidentifiable server. I'm working to find some identifiable sounds that could give us an idea on where he might be, but watch it," Angela updated the two as she pressed play on the Angelatron.

"Hello, Jeffersonian staff. Nice to see your smiling faces again," the voice that haunted the past of every single person in the Jeffersonian began to speak. Christopher Pelant was an evil genius. He had the IQ of Einstein, it seemed. Every time the Jeffersonian or the FBI would get close to locating him and making an arrest, he would find a way to elude them once more. The last time they had seen him, he had threatened the people of DC if Booth did not break off his original engagement to Dr. Brennan. Of course, they were able to work through things that time and they ended up getting married, but there wasn't a day that went by that Pelant wasn't on anyone's mind and when or if he would strike again.

"Let's just get to the point. I have your daughter and your daughter's friend. They're very beautiful young girls, by the way. Dr. Brennan, you and Agent Booth made a gorgeous child," Pelant continued. Brennan felt a look of disgust crossing her face as she watched this man speak about her daughter that way.

"You might need to be careful when you're coming after me. At any moment, I could wreak more havoc on the people of DC. It's been so peaceful since you've been gone, Dr. Brennan. It would be a shame to think that a weekend trip to see your daughter, who's been lying to you all month by the way, could turn into a D.C. bloodbath. Have a good day!" Pelant ended his video.

"He's been in hiding for twelve years, why would he just decide to come back out just to hurt our daughter?" Booth asked rhetorically.

"I'm not sure, but I think I have an idea on where they might be. It's a brick wall indoor so we're looking for a building that was built between the 1860's and the 1880's. Look in the background in this frame," Angela said as she fast-forwarded to a frame midway through the video. It was an advertisement for a concert.

"That's a concert poster," Booth noted.

"Correct. I can't make out who the artist was, but the date is in 1982 and it's a closing concert, so we're looking for a club that was built in the 1880's but closed in 1982," Angela continued as she pulled up the search parameters in her recognition program. The search turned up over 200 results.

"We don't have the manpower to search 200 buildings. Is there any way we can narrow it down a little bit further?" Booth asked Angela.

"Once I separate the video and audio feeds then I might be able to cross out some more options. I'm doing what I can," Angela tried to reassure Booth and Brennan.

"You're doing great, Ange," Brennan assured her former best friend. Angela smiled as Booth exited the office to update the FBI. As soon as he left, Angela reached around and hugged Brennan.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry. You must be feeling horrible," Angela said.

"I feel worse than you know," Brennan answered as she squeezed her best friend tightly.

* * *

Christine woke up groggily. Her head was throbbing, but once she came to, she began to panic.

"Where am I?" she thought. The last time she remembered being awake, she was in her room, at Micah's. And now she wasn't. She looked next to her and saw Micah laying right next to her. She began to shake Micah to wake her up.

"Micah! Micah, wake up!" Christine whispered as Micah stirred out of her sleep.

"Chris?" Micah said sleepily. "What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Christine answered, but the television set in the corner that had been left on answered all of their questions. A press conference was being held about two kidnapped teenagers, ages 14 and 13, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that had been taken from the thirteen-year-old's aunt's house in Washington, DC.

"The two girls missing are Christine Angela Brennan, aged 14, and Micah Kathleen Willis, aged 13. Their pictures are currently being distributed among all media outlets. At precisely 6:21 this morning, a missing person's report was filed after the two girls were found missing by the aunt of Micah Willis. There was evidence that the house alarm had been tampered with, indicating that a break-in did occur. No fingerprints were found at the scene…" the agent was cut off as the TV was turned off behind the girls. They turned around quickly as they were face to face with the man responsible for all of this.

"Oh my god. There's no way," Christine murmured.

* * *

Later that night, Angela was still hard at work analyzing the video. Brennan had fallen asleep on the couch in her office while Booth took up a space in Cam's office. Angela felt her eyes getting droopy, but she kept working. At eleven that night, she sat up as she looked at the work before her. She had finally separated Pelant's voice in the video from the background noise and had two separate tracks before her. She played the track without Pelant's voice and heard a very faint noise in the back. She cut that part out of the main track and played it again. She gasped. It was a train. She went back to her list of possible locations from earlier that day and searched for any that were near train tracks. There was only one. She ran to the couch where Brennan was sleeping and shook her awake.

"Brennan! Wake up!" she exclaimed.

"Angela, what is it?" Brennan asked sleepily.

"I got it! I know where they are!" She said. Brennan jumped up as Angela ran to the door and yelled, "Booth! I got it!" Two seconds later, Booth raced into the office.

"Where are they?" He asked.

"Okay, so when I separated the audio tracks, the background track had an almost inaudible sound in it, but I was able to separate it and maximize the volume. Listen to it," she said as she played back the train horn.

"That's a train!" Brennan exclaimed.

"Now, looking at this list, there's only one abandoned club that was near a train track. It's Club Monaco, right outside of DC limits in Arlington," Angela concluded.

"Ok, we'll get a crew over there first thing tomorrow morning," Booth said as he went to hug Angela. "Thank you, Angela," he said as he left to call his boss.

* * *

**I had this ending completely different, but I feel like this would be a nice little twist. I'd love to hear what you all think about it!**

_**Coming up next:**_

_**It's a race against time to find the girls as Pelant threatens to harm not just them, but the rest of the city.**_


	8. Face to Face

**Here we go once more! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bones...I swear**

* * *

"Christine, who is that?" Micah asked. Christine recognized the face right away as a man that had caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people.

"That's Christopher Pelant. We studied him in my Criminal Studies class last semester. He is a hacktivist, a murderer, and an evil genius, " Christine remembered from the studies she had done on this man only a few short months ago.

"I'm flattered to hear that the public school system is talking about me, now," Pelant said as he walked toward the girls. "Did the system tell you that your parents were the ones in charge of my case?" he asked Christine as he held her face in his hands.

"What?" Christine asked in disbelief. "That's impossible," she added.

"Oh, it's possible. Your dad had it out for me for a while, especially after I caused you and your mother to go into hiding for months, then broke up his first engagement to her. Guess he and your mother weren't smart enough to figure me out," Pelant continued as Christine's face turned to complete disgust.

"My mother is the smartest woman you'll ever lay eyes on, and my father is right at her level. If you think they can't find you, you're sure as hell in for a rude awakening," Christine stood up for her parents as Pelant began to laugh.

"You have your father's humor. See, that's not going to happen because the minute they step foot into this building, a timer will go off, and an hour after that, the building's going to blow up, along with the rest of the buildings in the area, so once again, they'll have to choose between you and the city. Good luck," Pelant said as he walked out of the room, locking the bolt as he exited.

"Christine, what are we going to do?" Micah asked worriedly. Pelant had scared her.

Christine looked around the dimly lit room with no windows and said, "I have no idea."

* * *

The FBI, D.C. police, Arlington Police, and Virginia State police were en route to the building at 8:00 the next morning. Booth and Brennan were following behind. When they arrived at the building, they were greeted by a D.C. police officer.

"Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth, I'm Landon Willis, DC police," he introduced as he shook hands with the two.

"Are you related to Micah?" Brennan asked, recognizing the last name.

"She's my cousin, actually, ma'am," Landon answered grimly.

"They let you work her case?" Booth asked.

"They knew that I would end up working it, with or without their permission, so they left me on," Landon continued as they walked toward the building.

"Witnesses say there was a van that pulled up here at about 4:00 am yesterday morning and there was a man that was hauling two bags over his shoulders. He drove the van off and caught a ride back and he was seen here again at around 10 that morning," Landon updated them with what they had found out on their neighborhood canvass.

"The video arrived in everyone's boxes at the Jeffersonian at around noon, so he stayed here," Booth concluded as he looked at the building.

"We've got officers ready to go in and storm the building," Landon said as he pointed at the team that was standing by.

"I'm going, too," Booth said as Brennan stopped.

"Booth, are you sure?" Brennan asked.

"She's my daughter. I'll never forgive myself if I didn't try to save her," he said as he walked away. Brennan watched as he suited up into the bulletproof vest. He still had the determination in him, and, more importantly, he still loved his daughter.

"Everyone stop!" A voice yelled from the front of the crowd. Booth went to the front as he looked at the monitors.

"What is it?" Booth asked frantically.

"We were running a sensory scan to make sure that there were nothing harmful in the building, and this building has a bomb in it," the man said as he zoomed out and showed Booth the images of the rest of the neighborhood.

"That son of a bitch," Booth muttered. "He rigged all of the buildings," he added as he looked up at the window once again. Pelant had heard the muttering below him and smiled sneakily as he pressed his button on his timer. In one hour, the bomb would explode, killing anyone and everyone in his way.

* * *

"Christine, we have got to get out of here!" Micah said frantically.

"I know," Christine said as she looked around the room, trying to find something to let them out. She had an idea as she pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and raced to the door.

"What are you doing?" Micah asked.

"I read in this book one time about this girl who was kidnapped and she broke out of the room by picking the lock with a bobby pin," Christine said as she bent toward the door and stuck the bobby pin in the keyhole.

"Seriously, Chris? We're locked in a dark room, there's no windows, and you seriously want to use some trick that may not even work?!" Micah yelled.

"Yes, because if this doesn't work, then we've got nothing! We're going to be blown up in this building, so forgive me if I'm trying to save our lives for once!" Christine blew up as she looked at her friend. Micah was stunned. Christine had never spoken to her like that before. Micah slumped down next to the door as Christine continued to pick the lock. There was a moment of silence before Christine sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'm just scared," she said.

"Me too," Micah replied. The silence continued as Christine continued to try to break them out.

* * *

"We're ready to go in," the head of the bomb squad said as he looked at his crew assembled before him: three of his own officers, Officer Willis, and Booth. He nodded his head as he counted down before they opened the door. Booth was the last one in as he looked at Brennan, who was standing in the back with the rest of the police, and shut the door behind them. Booth, Willis, and another officer went to the second floor, while the other three officers headed down to the basement. Booth heard a clicking in the only room on the floor. He turned around to his guys with him and counted down. Willis kicked down the door and found Pelant's headquarters.

Video monitors were in front of them, showing all of the rooms in the building. Booth picked up Pelant's coat and said, "We just missed him." The officers looked around as Booth kept watching the video monitors, waiting for a sign of his daughter. Finally, the third time it clicked through, he saw two girls in a dark room. One looked asleep next to the door, while the other was attempting to open the door. "They're here!" Booth exclaimed as Willis rushed over to the monitors. Right when he got there, they suddenly shut off. Booth panicked for a second, then realized what had happened once he heard, "Agent Booth." He slowly turned around, kept his hand on his holster, and came face to face with Christopher Pelant. He was holding a remote in his hand, Booth knew, for the bomb.

"Hello, Pelant. Nice to see you again," Booth said cordially. "Boys, give us a minute, will ya?" Willis and the other officer slowly backed out and shut the door behind them, leaving the criminal and the agent alone.

* * *

**Hopefully, I'll be able to get in one more update before I head out of town for the week, but if not, enjoy this lovely cliffhanger! ;)**


End file.
